Google Gets Me

So, this is just a random post. I was googling 'plotting advice' since that's what I'm trying to do right now and I discovered a quote from Flannery O'Conner on some other writer's blog:

"You would probably do just as well to get that plot business out of your head and start simply with a character or anything that you can make come alive," she wrote to Hester. "Wouldn't it be better for you to discover a meaning in what you write rather than to impose one? Nothing you write will lack meaning because the meaning is in you."

Which is interesting because recently, in my creative writing class, we read a story by her titled "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and I really thought it was something else (meaning good, in this case). Especially after my professor started explaining more and more about the type of writer that O'Conner was.

I've been trying to plot out my book still. And I think I've realized that I've spent more time trying to write a plot down than I have attempted to simply write it out. Maybe I'm just not a plotter...

What about y'all? Plotters or Pantsers?

Fail

I realize that I completely failed at least at one of my new year's resolutions. The one where I would post at least twice a week. Yeah... I guess I should've said once every other two months or something. But I have an excuse! You probably saw this coming, but I swear that it's a semi-valid excuse that will hopefully get me in the clear.

The past two months have been pretty crazy for me.

Sounds like an everyday doctor's note, right? But I'm serious. I've had work (which you already know about) and I started school on January 18, so that added to the time suckage of my life. Then when you add in a social life and a wildly active reading/writing life, you find out that all of the other little things you always wanted to do just don't seem as important as sleep at the end of the night. It's really been a crazy start to 2011.

But with that excuse out there, and a sincere apology to those who have probably already forgotten about this blog and will be confused when they suddenly get a notification that the rambling author's journey has just posted another entry about what she PLANS on doing, I hope that it will be enough to draw you back in.

If you follow my other blog though, Suspiciously Apt Book Reviews, you've probably seen several posts since I normally don't cut reading time out of my life. There are a few good book reviews from the past couple of months that might interest some of you. I just put one up that covers BEFORE I FALL by Lauren Oliver. It's one of the greatest books I've ever read, I'm not kidding you.

But back to what this blog is SUPPOSED to be about (this will be short for tonight):

I have finally made a decision on which idea to write a novel about (only took me what? a year? And that's only as far as any of you have been reading this). I can't tell you much about it yet since it's still a tentative development, but I know that it's definitely what I want to do. The real journey starts tonight. Who has time to wait for NaNoWriMo, right?

See y'all next week! (Double dog promise you!)

The Stylish Blogger Award

Well, I'm a bit surprised to say the least. I didn't know there were awards for stylish blogs being given out. But it's nice to be thought of as such! Thank you, Ryning Books for honoring me with this award.

So! I'm supposed to start off with 7 things you probably don't know about me... There's no snooze button here, so bear with me!

1. I'm 20 years old. For now.
2. My cat's unceremoniously pregnant. (Anyone want a kitten?)
3. I named my second Siberian Husky after one of my own characters. It was a werewolf character so it could easily have been a family name passed down.
4. My favorite movie is Rocky. Because I want to go the distance.
5. I have a separate blog for reviewing books. (Suspiciously Apt Book Reviews)
6. I am majoring in English at Northwest Vista College and hope to transfer in the fall to Texas State University.
7. I'm horrible at checking facebook, my blog, and messages on Goodreads. It's okay. I'll get better at it. Hopefully.

Alright so the last thing I'm supposed to do is reward 15 recently discovered bloggers! I don't think I know that many yet, but I'll list a few I do know.

1. To Review or Not Review
2. Lacey of the Lake
3. Ryning Books and thank you again for this award!
4. Babbling Flow
5. Carolina Valdez Miller

I love all of those blogs. They're awesome! I say we toast to having stylish blogs! Champagne for the lucky ones that are 21 and older annnnd... how about some good ol' hot chocolate for us minors? Yeah! *toast*

Farewell 2010

2010 was kind of a bad year for me. It was like a tail spin of unmade decisions and loss. Great loss. I went through a tough time finding a job, couldn't make up my mind about which book to write, couldn't return to college this past fall, and just this past month, my beautiful siberian husky, Luke, passed away...



You may remember him from my post "Why I Should Join IPCA" when I entered the PARANORMALCY ARC contest. He was 9 years old. I don't want to get into the details because it makes me cry every time, but he was beloved. I picked Luke out on Halloween night when I was ten years old at Pet City. It was this cute little pet shop in the mall where we lived in Boise, Idaho at the time. He was just so adorable and so breathtakingly beautiful (er, I mean handsome. Guys prefer handsome, correct?) I just couldn't walk out of there without calling him my own. My dad caved. He'd always loved huskies. And ever since then, Luke had been more than a friend or a companion. He'd been family. It's amazing that he lasted so long. He was known for getting his stomach pumped at the vet's office. He'd tried to eat chocolate covered raisinets, batteries, and fireworks. Yes, people... fireworks. That dog was a wanna-be curious cat. And I loved him so much...

I don't want to make this blog post too depressing, and I want to TRY to keep my eyes dry if at all possible, so... I will carefully segue into a farewell to the past year.

Goodbye to:

Uncertainty.

Indecision.

Inconsistency.

Hello 2011...

This is the year that I will walk forward with sure steps.

Resolution

There's just something about starting fresh...

Seeing as I've been the new kid in school about a dozen times (nope, I'm not a military brat, by the way), it's a little unbelievable to say that I like change. I mean, after so many times you have to get sick of it, right?

Wrong.

Each and every time I moved to a new town, I always had this bubbling sense of enthusiasm. It's new. It's fresh. It's a chance to start over and reinvent yourself. Who doesn't want that? Sooo, of course with that attitude, it is correct to presume that I have made a few New Year's Resolutions. And here are some of them:

1. Get healthy. (Not that I'm sick or something, but the cliche resolution to lose weight and stay in shape. Annnnd try to reassert my will power. Wherever it went...) And with this resolution I've decided to take up running again. I used to love it. Why can't I love it again?

2. Seriously. Write. My. Book.

3. Read 75 books this year. Yes siree.

4. Transfer to a University.

5. Write at least once a week on both of my blogs. Hopefully my followers will like this one. Hee.

So, there's a few good ol' fashioned resolutions. If I didn't have a killer head ache right now and if I wasn't so tired (some of us had to work today. meh.), I would probably try to liven this up with a quippy joke or maybe an all too serious post about writing and time and writing resolutions... Alas, I can barely make my fingers hit the right keys. Tomorrow is a new day! Tomorrow is a new year!

Happy New Year everybody! I hope 2011 will be the year to beat! Be safe out there!

To Co-Write or Not to Co-Write... That IS the Question.

Hello, everyone! I hope you're having a wonderful holiday, and in case I forget to add this very joyous statement on at the end: Merry Christmas (and also in case I disappear again, Happy New Year!)!

So, NaNoWriMo was very interesting. I wrote. A lot. And read very little. But strangely enough, I have been writing even more in December. Why? Because I have taken on a new project. The adaption of a previous work that was written with a friend. We decided to adapt said project on November 26th, and since have written 129 pages of... awesomeness. That probably equates to anywhere between 60-80 pages on my part. It has been a whirlwind of words. I've found out about characters in more depth than I had ever thought possible-- all because I already had their basic personality down pat (including a few complexities already established in early stages of writing). I mean, it's even more exciting to write because I have someone on the other end that's both writing her own section of the book and pestering me to finish on my end. It's very motivating. How can it not be when you have someone that's just as enthusiastic and who is sharing the work?

The only drawback is... working on your individual book becomes what? That's right, ladies and gents. Almost nonexistent. I'm hoping I can get back on that gig soon, but I'm a little wrapped up in the adaption of this very exciting and very captivating book right now.

I'll check back in soon with an update or two.

Writing Until Your Fingers Fall Off

... is very interesting to say the least.

Technically, that's a lie though. Since all of my fingers are still intact. But still. It was a close call.

So, I figured it was time for a NaNo update of some sort. It IS, after all, my first year actually attempting all of this. Let's talk about what I've learned so far from this particular grueling month of novel writing:

1. Updating your word count every 50 or so words is NOT necessary, but it IS completely and totally fun.

2. Pep Talks from the staff of NaNoWriMo and/or amazingly accomplished authors can either be very helpful or very riddle-like.

3. I now know why they say to start from scratch on your novel.

4. When participating in a massive, national self challenge like this, you'll find very little time to read (I'm very serious on this one. I finished a book in 10 days. Normally I would've finished three times as many).

5. When adding writing buddies and being shown each of their word count status thingies, you can become very competitive.

6. Week Two is cursed.

7. You will question yourself and your novel various times through-out the process. Supposedly this is normal.

8. John Green says that you are probably just writing a big folly, but that that's okay because follies can be turned into pretty darn good novels. Of course not in one month. More like three years. But still. <-- Helpful AND riddling!

9. The evil blinking cursor on word needs to lower it's expectations. Seriously.

10. And lastly, when you are behind on your word count it becomes difficult to complete any other task without thinking "I should probably be writing instead of this". Blog posting shouldn't count, right? Technically I AM writing. It just won't be added to that meticulous word count widget. Darn the world!

There you have it. Ten things so far that I have learned from NaNoWriMo-ing. It's really not all that different from trying to write a book every other month out of the year, except for the fact that you have a set deadline and if you win you get street cred. And a PDF winner's certificate. I was mistaken about the shirt. I thought I could win a shirt. *sad face*

What I like the most about it?
-It allows you to suck. Horribly. AND it forces you to write.

What I like least about it?
-The competitiveness. You either feel awesome because you're way ahead or totally low because all of your friends are ahead of YOU now. Go them! Boo you!

Now... Back to writing... orrr maybe imagining thyself inserted into the computer screen on Word and snapping that evil cursor in half. Eh... Probably both.